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Sid

0-4-0WT Number 4127 left the JA Maffei loco works in Munich in 1925 and was delivered to M. Strass, Karlsruhe, for Gebr. Wunsch, Forbach.

It later it passed to Karl Epple at Forchheim and was their loco No. 5 where it is believed it suffered shell damage during WW II. It was seen out of use at Karl Epple's in 1964/5 when it was purchased by an American enthusiast who shipped it back to the USA where he had planned a railway museum. Although the plans for the museum materialized, the locomotive was not included and was sold to a dentist who plinthed the loco in the town of Leavenworth near Seattle.

In the 1990s, Sverker Johansson negotiated the purchase of the loco for the Risten-Lakviks Railway, but since the RLJ already had two locos contact was made with veteran engineer Roger Jansson who purchased the engine and took it to the Frövi Machine & Estate Light Railway Museum near Orebro in Sweden where it was restored.

It was sold to its first British owners in March 2006 and initially seen on the Quarry Railway at Hollycombe, Liphook, Hampshire before being purchased in 2007 by a consortium of Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trustees for use on their railway.

Sid departing Woody Bay Sid's Maffei works plate

After further overhaul and restoration was carried out in North Devon including a repaint in early L&B livery, this well travelled loco - now named "Sid" continuing the tradition of the L&B naming its steam locomotives after Devon 3-letter rivers - entered passenger service in August 2007.

After handling the bulk of steam train operation in 2007/08 she was withdrawn from service in August 2008 and left site in early January 2009 to have work carried out to the cylinders, wheels and boiler. Sid returned to Woody Bay in September 2009.

Sid (right) with Axe, Woody Bay, 19 September 2009 - Photo by Tony Nicholson

Sid (right) at Woody Bay with Axe, 19 September 2009.

Used in active revenue service - including the Driver For a Fiver event at the 2010 Autumn Gala to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the closure of the L&B when Axe and Sid were joined by the Ffestiniog Railways modern L&B type loco Lyd - in the late autumn of 2010 a broken lateral stay was discovered during her annual boiler inspection.

After protracted efforts including consulting several boiler "experts" a repair was devised and undertaken by the L&B engineering team of Chris Carder and John Uphill who engaged Ollie Jurer of OJ Fabrications to undertake the required specialist coded welding on Sid's original 76 year old boiler. The work being carried out over the weekend of 9th and 10th of July - Sid was then pressure tested and lightly steamed before undergoing further trials and hauled a test train on Monday 11th 2011. Since when It has regularly been in use hauling passenger trains.

The loco is now steaming and running better than ever and has recently been hauling the Thorpe Park Carriages in their last summer of operation.

Specifications

  • 0-4-0 well tank
  • Cylinder Bore 7"
  • Driving wheel diameter 21"
  • Weight in working order 8.5 tonnes
  • Nominal HP 30HP
  • Boiler working pressure 210 PSI

 

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